MANGALURU: A 26-year-old youth went through a three-hour ordeal on Tuesday night after he was detained on suspicion of conducting a “terror dry run” at Mangalore International Airport (MIA).
He was found with what was suspected to be bomb-making material in his phone. The object turned out to be an innocuous power bank.
The youth Mansoor was later released without any charges being pressed against him on Tuesday night.
According to senior aviation officials and CISF personnel, Mansoor had booked a ticket from Mangaluru to Bengaluru on Indigo flight 6E 877 on Tuesday scheduled for 10 pm. He was to take an early morning flight from Bengaluru to Dubai on Indigo flight 6E 95, scheduled to take off at 7.20 am.
Mansoor’s nightmare began when a staff screening baggage at MIA reported a suspicious object in the Dubai-bound passenger’s check-in baggage. Within minutes after the detection of suspicious object, there was media buzz with TV channels flashing of a foiled terror run at MIA.
Sources told Express that after the cell phone’s power bank was physically removed, they found nothing suspicious about it.
“In fact we have reasons to believe that Mansoor was cheated by a friend, who sold him a power bank that was not genuine,’’ sources added.
The youth’s ordeal finally ended with him being declared as innocent and Indigo airlines coming forward to arrange his trip to Dubai. “One individual’s suspicion triggered a high drama at the airport. Anyway the safety aspect has been taken care of,’’ a senior aviation official informed.
Earlier, sources in Bajpe police station who took custody of the youth from CISF said there was suspicion that the material was used to make IEDs. Security at MIA was also stepped up following the incident, sources added.